Principal Event Planner
Ana Skidmore
734.709.6656
We had the honor of planning this year’s Market Mixer for The Knot Magazine in Detroit – and it was a great event! We pulled it all off with some amazing help from Blumz, Mike Staff Productions, Bodhi Tree Films, Panache Entertainment, Colonial Event Rentals, the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, Shutterbooth, Mark Adrian Photography, Lisa’s Gift Wrappers, Zingerman’s Bakehouse and Imagine Three. THANK YOU ALL!
For the second year in a row we planned and coordinated the Operation Give Birthday Bash on December 6th. It was a huge success with money raised for the Hamtramck School Based Health Center, Racquet Up Detroit, the Jacqueline E. Bayley Foundation and Kids on the Go. Congratulations!
We love the Brides Project! And are excited to share with you their Trunk Show!
Brides donate their wedding dresses and in return you get to pick from some very fabulous dresses for your own wedding at discounted prices!
The even better news is that they are having a trunk show on January 25th & 26th, and are inviting you to come out and try on some amazing dresses.
The Perfect dress could be waiting for you, so don’t forget to check them out!
I recently had the pleasure of celebrating a dear friend of mine who’s expecting a baby boy with her husband. This was an intimate shower for some of us gals in the wedding industry who simply adore Elizabeth from Posh Petals Floral (www.poshpetalsfloral.com). Here are some of the details that went into the planning.
The theme was barnyard/woodland creatures. Sometimes, themes can overtake an event but I went for a more subtle way of incorporating it. Using paper products such as invitations, menu cards, and thank you cards are gentle ways to introduce in the theme to your guests for any event.
I worked with Wildship Studio ( http://www.wildship.com/) to create a look that was unique and more appropriate for a semi formal event. I didn’t want the shower to look like a kid’s party so that idea needed to be introduced in the invitation first with the rest to follow.
Bringing in the theme with your food/beverage menu is another way to subtly incorporate it. I served sliders of shredded pork bathed in Caribbean jerk sauce topped with sharp cheddar cheese, baby spinach & pineapple aioli on mini brioche buns as the featured item with mascarpone cheesy risotto cakes and feta bruschetta as sides from SpeakEZ Lounge (www.speakezlounge.com). I could have just done traditional pork sliders, mac & cheese with pork ‘n beans but it wouldn’t have had the same level of class.
For simple ways of bring the theme in the event design, we used antique doors from FancyFray (www.fancyfray.com) as buffet backgrounds to give a dose of a barnwood rustic feel. The dessert stands and candle holders you see were wooded carved and rusted metal. Events By I.Candy (http://eventsbyicandy.com/) provided those and many of the other rentals including the brown chivari chairs.
We had mercury glass owls to hold votives over by the fire place and lounge furniture and a host of small opulent decor items scattered around as simple reminders. The birch wood and tin vases for the textured floral arrangements were the perfect touch of masculinity for a baby boy shower. Jen from Modern Day Floral (www.moderndayfloral.com) is fabulously gifted!
From paper products and food/beverage menu selection to meaningful subtle details and floral designs, you can design a tasteful themed event for your guest to enjoy.
Special thanks to all those who contributed!
Our Association of Bridal Consultants – Ann Arbor meeting in June was at the gorgeous Matthaei Botanical Gardens. We toured the gardens and learned about different types of ceremonies and weddings from Tom Burdette, Steve Stawicki (The Wedding Connection), and Mark Ephriam (Top That Event).
Alice Heart Photography took all of these beautiful pictures.
Here are all of the amazing industry sponsors that helped this event happen!
Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Alice Heart Photography
Glass House Café
Gourmet Invitations
Event Jazz
Hello Ice Cream
Luxe Event Rental
The Wedding Connection
Top That Event
Tom Burdette
Thank you to everyone who came out and we can’t wait to see you at the next ABC Ann Arbor event!
My adventures in parenting began three years ago today when Emma was born. I am constantly amazed at the person she has become – a happy, empathetic, energetic, creative and loving little girl that I am so proud to call my daughter. Happy birthday Emma!
April’s ABC meeting (Association of Bridal Consultants) took place at the Sheraton in Novi and was photographed by the wonderful Ignited Photography duo. The speaker, Jeannine Kennedy from Honeysuckle Wedding Company, was fabulous in her presentation of The Style Plan!
The Epic awards is one night that we and a lot of others in the the event industry look forward to every year.
This year it was held at the historic Henry Ford Museum. The Epic awards is like the Grammy’s for us. We all submit our events that fall into different categories and a select group of judges, vote for the best one in each group.
It was so nice to see all of our friends and colleges all dressed up and looking their best.
The decor was beautiful and the food was amazing. Only one thing was missing and that was our amazing owner of TwoFoot Creative! Ana had just had her beautiful baby and had to miss out on the night, and we definitely missed her.
After dinner the awards started and we are so happy to announce that we won Best Team Effort along with Bill Hamilton Designs, Colonial Events, Chair Covers and Linens, Gourmet Invitations, Shutterbooth, Pinkberry, Kurt from Mike Staff Productions, Epic Motion, Arising Images and The Lighting Guy. Last year we did an extraordinary wedding with everyone here and it was very rewarding to be able to stand on the stage and share in this moment with everyone.
Can’t wait for this years weddings so we can start picking out which ones we can submit for next year. And a huge Congratulations to all the winners for this years’ Epic Awards!
Thanks to Sam Sarkis Photography, we have these amazing pictures to share with you from the night!
Melanie King, TwoFoot Creative – Ann Arbor
Shuttersam Photography
Our February ABC (Association of Bridal Consultants) meeting took place at Vinology in downtown Ann Arbor, and was just a stunning backdrop for a great night of networking and discussion of our upcoming industry EPIC Awards. Shuttersam Photography took all of the pictures you see here, thank you Sam!
Other sponsors for the evening were Roger Humphrey on guitar, Passion Flower, Jefferson Market and Cakery, Chair Cover Express, and Rock Paper Scissors.
Everyone did an amazing job, the food was great and I can’t wait for our next one! If anyone out there (in or around Ann Arbor) would like to sponsor a future meeting, make sure to get in touch, we are always looking!
Wedding planner to the stars Preston Bailey got married at midnight on Valentine’s Day at the Empire State Building, and our good friend Tifany from Gourmet Invitations was there to share in their love that night (she also created Preston & Theo’s invitations).
Preston, who plans fabulous events for everyone else, finally got to plan his dream wedding to Theo Bleckmann who he has been with for seven years. A-listers were present to watch the two say I do, and what better way to get married than to have Mrs. Joan River’s officiating the wedding. Who could have possibly made Preston nervous on his wedding night? Martha Stewart, he knew everything had to be 100% perfect with her there!
With a guest list of Oprah, Donald Trump, and a few Real Housewives of Atlanta you know this wedding was over the top! This extravagant King Kong themed wedding was one not to be missed. Bailey’s response to his idea for his wedding was “We love the imagery of the films, but King Kong has a tragic ending,” says Bailey. “We wanted to create a happy ending.”
When you walked into the Empire State Bulding guests were wowed by a King Kong statue covered in flowers. Guests were then guided down a hallway of art made by flowers. Along the hallway were pictures from guests’ actual weddings. Preston didn’t want his wedding to be all about them so he incorporated his guests’ wedding pictures so they could feel a part of their special day.
Bleckmann sang You Make Me So Feel Young, and Bailey surprised everyone by coming out of 12ft sculpture that was designed to look like him in a Reem Acra ,who was a guest at the wedding, bridal gown. Instead, he looked smashing in a tuxedo made by the designer.
They definitely didn’t want anything to be boring, so they pumped their guest full of coffee, and champagne to keep them up all night (tell 6 am) to celebrate their special day. Backdrops were created to make their guests feel like part of the classic King Kong movie, and Theo and Bailey cut into a Sylvia Weinstock custom wedding cake. 
Each guest left with a mini-bottle of Chadon sparkling wine and heart shaped chocolate for a special Valentines treat.
We wish Preston and Theo many years of love and happiness!
Melanie King, TwoFoot Creative – Ann Arbor